Thread of Death by Jennifer Estep
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It is almost guaranteed that when I read one of the installments in the Elemental Assassin series I am in for a great read. As the arc that included Gin Blanco's war with Mab Monroe came to a close I wondered how Jennifer Estep could possibly top that ending. How could she possibly write a story that would let the fans know that Gin is still going strong and there is so much more to learn about her and the other members of her family? Interestingly enough, it is weird to see so much action and excitement in such a short package as this novella, but, she makes it work. Jennifer Estep managed to draw me further into Gin's story and wonder what could possibly top the showdown between Gin and Mab. Maybe the answer is not in how to top it but in how to show the readers that there is so much more that can happen sans Mab.

In this novella we see the next few days after the showdown. We see the some of the immediate effects on Gin's life. She attends a major event in this novella and the event itself is completely turned upside down. We also get an idea of where things will begin for Tangled Threads which is due out really soon and is an also an amazing story. One of the things that we also get a glimpse of is Gin growing along with those around her realizing that maybe Gin's no-nonsense attitude towards handling impossible situations that threaten someone might just be the only way for things to go, especially if you were raised to be an assassin.

Excellent read and I can't wait to re-read all of them and get my hands on the audiobook of Tangled Threads!

Review can also be seen at http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspot.c...



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The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just finished The Rook and I began to worry about writing a review that would due the rating I plan to give this book some justice. I started making notes about my impressions before I was even a quarter through the book. It made such an impression on me that I went to find the author's website so that I could follow him on Twitter. I started feeding my thoughts into Goodreads as I got through different parts of the book, which is something I never do. I typically post Twitter updates but this seemed easier so that it would note the percentage I was at on my Kindle Fire when I made my note. I stopped reading yesterday and became concerned that I would not get to see more of this intriguing story after I finished the book. I jumped on the Internet and went to Daniel O’Malley’s website and saw that he has plans to do more stories in the Chequy world. As I finished posting an update early yesterday on Goodreads I caught a glimpse of the overall ratings of the book and thought impossible. We all read something and get vastly different impressions of what we read. Some things work for us and some things don’t. The beginning of this book did move so fast and have such a convoluted beginning that I had to re-read some parts. When I caught on to how things worked I knew I was one of the people for whom this book worked very much.

The Rook was one of those books that I knew I wanted to read and was watching for at least a month before its release date. I was drawn to it just from reading the synopsis and kept hoping for it to be released early. I bought and downloaded it first thing the morning it was released and made the mistake of taking a peek at it before starting work. It was a mistake because I was so totally enthralled that I wanted to send an email that I was leaving for the day and go find a good cup of coffee and a quiet, comfortable place to read for hours. I did tear myself from the book until that night and was really happy that I did not have to teach at the university that night.

This book has something for just about everyone. If you want a mystery, it is there. If you love action, the fight scenes with cool supernatural powers are there. If you like a bit of horror or gore, there is a bit of that too. It is not for romance readers, though there are a couple of irons in the fire that might prove interesting. One of the great things about this book that I wanted to mention separately was the author’s humor. I finally used the highlight feature of my Kindle Fire because there were several parts in this book that literally made me laugh out loud. A great example was when Myfanwy and her assistant Ingrid left a very important meeting and Myfanwy was still feeling things out from the memory loss. She asked Ingrid her impressions from the meeting and the scene went something like this. “Yes, I want to hear your thoughts on what we jus t saw”, Myfanwy said enthusiastically. “Did you think I brought you along for kicks? That was a classic date, with snacks and a show, and now I expect you to deliver the goods”. There are so many more humorous situations throughout the book.

Let’s take a look at the characters. Our heroine with the oddly pronounced Welsh name Myfanwy is pretty much the kind to whom most of us can relate. She is thrown into her world in the most terrorizing circumstances, with no memory and surrounded by dead bodies. We follow the person that Myfanwy becomes in her new life as she learns about her important position in a secret organization. She doesn’t just jump in and suddenly know how her powers work and kick butt in the name of justice. She has serious growing pains as she is thrown into situation after situation where she has to learn not only who she is becoming, but she also has to learn who Myfanwy was before things unfolded. Ingrid is a bit of a wild card because she is the person closest to Myfanwy as her executive assistant. There is an intricate system in place in the Chequy that utilizes some of the nomenclature of the game of chess. One of the characters that came in towards the end that I really liked was L’il Pawn Alan (No this is not his name or title. He is Pawn Alan but his stature and personality earned him this nickname in Myfanwy’s head) who, like Myfanwy, turns out to be more than meets the eye.

I can say that this book was a wonderful experience and I definitely look forward to more work from Daniel O’Malley despite him being an MSU graduate when Michigan is clearly the best!

Review can also be seen at LadyTechiesBookMusings.Blogspot.com


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Raven Cursed by Faith Hunter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Truly phenomenal book! I really enjoyed this book. I even got to a point where I had to slow down because it felt like it was going too fast. I did not want the experience to end. I love both series and realized I am just a fan of Faith Hunter's writing. I was in a chat the other day where she was the featured author and it was great learning more about her writing process. It was interesting learning how hard she works to research Cherokee customs, folklore and mythology. You can even tell how diligently she researched the behavior of large cats. I enjoy a lot of authors work, but, I truly love the Jane Yellowrock series.

I had several realizations throughout the book about Jane's relationship with Big Evan. Initially I was sick of the blame game and eventually I had an epiphany and later in the book so did Jane. This book seemed like a crossroads for Evangaline, Jane, Rick, Evan, Molly, and even Beast. Heck, this book feels like change for everyone. The best parts of the story showed how well Faith Hunter writes a fight scene. As I was reading the fight scenes time always seemed to slow down and I literally could picture each shot, swipe, kick and punch and several fight scenes were so vivid that I just had to re-read them.

I tried to pay close attention to everything that I was reading so that I did not miss any important gems. There was so much good information about Jane and Beast given in this book. There were some new supernaturals brought into the story and that worked really well also. I'm keeping my eye on Leo because he seems to be up to something regarding Jane. Angie Baby and even Little Evan had bigger parts in this story and they were great additions to the action and intrigue of Raven Cursed. I spent some time digesting the story and the name fits the storyline very well. I am anxiously awaiting the next installment, Death's Rival. I would appreciate a copy right now please.

Review can also be seen at http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspot.c...